Limit harm by eating No Harm
The No Harm Diet is a dietary pattern based on the principle of limiting the harm to a higher organism in the process of using them to provide food for human nutrition.
What is the No Harm Diet?
The No Harm Diet is a dietary pattern based on the principle of limiting the harm to a higher organism in the process of using them to provide food for human nutrition. This principle does not take into consideration upstream, collateral, or post food production operations but the founding principles can be used as a guide for this dietary choice. All living organisms have the right to life and have to be treated with respect throughout their lives and physical harm has to be limited even if the induvial human’s view is that the organism does not have emotions, feelings, or react to stimuli. Lower organisms (single-cell) have to be treated with respect but the burden of responsibility of the consumer is limited as our understanding of these organisms is poor but the diet may have to be modified as the understanding of these organisms is gained.
What foods can be eaten?
An acceptable food is any food that is given by a plant or animal as a ‘gift’, typically during the process of reproduction that does not harm the following generation.
Acceptable Foods
- Fruits (see list below)
- Milk and milk-based products
- Eggs (unfertilized)
- Honey
- Fermented products from the feedstocks listed above (Mead, wine, cider, vinegar (made from fruit juice or mead), etc)
- Spices (from the fruit part of a plant with seeds removed (sweet pepper, red pepper, chillies, indian long pepper, paprika, vanilla, saffron))
- Olive oil
- Algae
- Flowers petals after pollination
- Salt
- Water
Unacceptable Foods
- Vegetables
- Leaves
- Grains (wheat, rice, corn, etc)
- Roots and tubers
- Flowers
- Nuts
- Meat and poultry
- Seafood
- Blood
- Tree sap (maple syrup, etc)
- Refined sugar
- Insects
- Bark
- Kelp
- Beer
- Coffee and tea
- Chocolate
- Tobacco
- Cannabis
- Cinnamon
Questionable Foods (acceptable now but may be removed)
- Mushrooms
- Simple seaweed
- Placenta
- Leaves that have naturally fallen from a plant
Fruits are a plant’s ‘gift’ to an organism to distribute the seeds of the plant. As long as the seeds are unharmed/removed or required to travel through the digestive track of an animal to allow for germination (strawberry, blueberry, etc) then this is an acceptable food for this diet. A fruit is defined as any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. For example, the part typically eaten in a coconut is the seed, while the outer husk (coconut coir) is the fruit of the coconut, under this diet only the fruit (coir) is acceptable.
Fruits (Uncomplete list)
- Apple, Apricot, Avocado
- Banana, Blackberry, Black currant, Blueberry, Boysenberry, Breadfruit
- Carb apples, Currant, Cherry, Chili pepper, Cloudberry, Cranberry, Cucumber
- Date, Durian
- Elderberry, Eggplant
- Fig
- Goji berry, Gooseberry, Grape
- Honeyberry, Huckleberry
- Jackfruit, Juniper berry
- Kiwifruit, Kumquat
- Lemon, Lime, Lychee
- Mango, Melon
- Nectarine
- Olive, Orange
- Papaya, Passionfruit, Peach, Pear, Peppers (bell, hot, sweet), Plantain, Plum, Pineapple, Pomegranate, Pumpkin
- Raspberry, Red currant
- Star fruit, Strawberry, Squash
- Tomato
- Zucchini
Milk is a ‘gift’ of a female mammal to its offspring or other creature to provide nutrition for the individual to live and grow. Humans have selected animals that have a high rate of milk production, greater than the offspring is able to consume. As long as the offspring are provided with the required amount of nutrition required to live and grow the extra production can be used by others. This extra production can be converted into other products (butter, cream, yogurt, etc), in the case of cheese, rennet and other enzymes have to come from simple organisms and not from an animal.
Chickens and other birds lay eggs on a relatively consistent basis and these eggs have two potential states. Fertilized eggs are eggs with a viable fetus of a bird inside and unfertilized eggs that are sterile. The unfertilized eggs are acceptable for consumption.
Honey is produced by bees from the collection of pollen and nectar from flowers. This converted product is stored for later consumption but through selection and favorable seasons, the amount of honey greatly exceeds the amount that the bees could consume and is acceptable for consumption.
Fermented products from fruit, milk, eggs, and honey are acceptable.
Spices taken from the fruit of the plant are acceptable neither the plant nor the seeds can be harmed in the process.
Recipes
If you want to give the No Harm Diet a go, try out some of these recipes!
Banana Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 Banana
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Butter
- 2 tsp Honey
- 1/4 cup Blueberries
- 5 Strawberries
Directions
- Mash banana
- Mix egg and banana together
- Melt butter in a frying pan on medium-low heat
- Place 1/4 cup of batter in a pan
- Cook pancakes till golden brown on both sides
- Top pancakes with fresh fruit and honey
Very Berry Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 Banana
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 cup Frozen mixed berries
- 1/4 cup Fresh blueberries
- 3 Strawberries
- 1/4 cup Raspberries
- 1/2 Kiwi
Directions
- Place banana, milk, Greek yogurt, and frozen fruit in a blender or food processor
- Blend till smooth
- Top with fresh fruit
No Harm Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 1 Tbs Olive oil
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 2 cups Tomato sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp Chili flakes
- 4 Eggs
Directions
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat
- Once hot, place olive and red bell pepper into the pan
- Saute till the pepper is tender
- Reduce the heat and place in tomato sauce, salt, and chili flakes
- Create a well with a spatula and carefully crack an egg into the well
- Repeat with the remaining eggs
- Cover the pan and cook the eggs to your preference
- Serve and enjoy
Zesty Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 Zucchini
- 1 Tbs Olive oil
- 1/2 cup Tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup Olives
- 1/2 Tomato
- 1/4 cup Eggplant
Directions
- Spiralize zucchini and squeeze out water
- Chop eggplant and tomato into small cubes
- Heat up a skillet to medium heat and add olive oil
- Place eggplant cubes into skillet and cook till soft
- Add tomato sauce, olives, and fresh tomato to the pan
- Bring to a shimmer
- Add zucchini noodles and cook till noodles are soft
- Serve and enjoy
